Wednesday Shootaround — Maryland at Ohio State

The Ohio State men’s basketball team (13-4, 4-0) takes on the Maryland Terrapins (14-4, 3-2) Thursday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm and the game will be aired on ESPN2.

The Buckeyes are coming in off of an 80-64 win over No. 1 Michigan State on Sunday. Maryland, meanwhile, last played on Sunday as well, defeating Iowa 91-73 at home.

Opening Tip

Who: Maryland (14-4, 3-2) at Ohio State (13-4, 4-0)

What: Men’s Basketball

Where: Columbus, Ohio — Value City Arena

When: Thursday, 7:00 pm (ESPN2)

Why: Because it might be the last thing you get to do before Snowmageddon 18.

Three Point Territory

[KBD POW] Keita Bates-Diop was named the Big Ten Conference Player of the Week Jan. 8 after earning the honor Dec. 11 as well. Most recently, Bates-Diop averaged 29.5 points and 10 rebounds in wins at Iowa and at home vs. No. 1 Michigan State. He poured in a career high 32 points vs. the Spartans after a 27-point effort at Iowa.

[Not a Bad Start] Ohio State last started 4-0 in the Big Ten during the 2011 conference season with 11-consecutive wins to start the league season. Chris Holtmann is the first Ohio State coach to start the conference season 4-0 in his first year in Columbus.

[The Series] Maryland leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes 6-5. Ohio State is 3-2 in Columbus, site of the only meeting with the Terps this season. Kam Williams and Jae’Sean Tate have the most experience in games vs. Maryland with five career appearances each. Tate averages 16.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in the series to lead the Buckeyes. C.J. Jackson contributes 9.0 points and 2.5 boards in a pair of meetings vs. Maryland. Junior Keita-Bates-Diop adds 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in three games. Williams, a Baltimore, Maryland, native, averages just over seven points a game vs. the Terps.

What You Should Know

+ Freshman Bruno Fernando was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on January 8 after the Luanda, Angola native posted a double-double against Penn State, then went for a career-high 21 points against Iowa to help pace Maryland to two wins. This is the first Freshman of the Week honor for Fernando, and the second for a Maryland freshman this year after Darryl Morsell earned the honor on November 20.

+ Maryland has done a solid job taken care of the basketball its past three games, averaging just 8.6 turnovers against Penn State, #1 Michigan State and Iowa. Sophomore point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. has been key during the three-game stretch, holding a 3.75 assist to turnover ratio while commanding the Terrapin offense.

+ Anthony Cowan Jr. continues to be the catalyst for Maryland on the offensive end this season, as the Bowie, Md. native has led the Terps in scoring in 12 different games, including four of five Big Ten contests. Cowan leads Maryland in points per game (16.2), which ranks seventh in the Big Ten. He also leads the Terps in free throw pct. (87.0%), assists per game (4.6) and steals per game (1.4) while averaging a league-high 35.6 minutes per game.